Aboriginal site among Australia's oldest

One of the stone tools recovered from the rock cave in Western Australia's Pilbara region. But researchers hope to unearth older artefacts at the site, which would make them older than the famed Mungo Man (Source: Clive Taylor/ACHM)

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Aboriginal tools found in Western Australia and dating back 35,000 years are surprisingly sophisticated and varied, archaeologists say.

And they believe the site may yet reveal artefacts up to 45,000 years old, making it older than the internationally famous Mungo Man site found in New South Wales.

Archaeologists hired by one of the traditional owners in the Pilbara region, the Martidja Banyjima people, uncovered the ancient tools at a rock overhang on the site of the A$1 billion Hope Downs iron ore mine.

The site, which is about 300 kilometres south of Port Hedland, has been named Djadjiling by the Banyjima people.

This honours their ancestral Dreaming track of the same name, which tells the story of how the earth was formed and the cycles of life and nature in the area were created.

Consultant archaeologist Dr Neale Draper says the site is the earliest dated archaeological site in the Pilbara region, which until now only had 20,000 years of documented Aboriginal occupation.

"The site is potentially amongst the oldest investigated in Australia, and further radiocarbon determinations will undoubtedly resolve this issue," says Draper, managing director of Australian Cultural Heritage Management.

Draper says charcoal samples from the site were sent to the University of Waikato, in New Zealand, and radiocarbon dated to 35,000 years old.

But he says there is about another 12 centimetres of sediment yet to be revealed.

"Considering about 10 centimetres of sediment separates the 25,000 and 35,000-year mark there could be material dating back another 10,000 years," Draper says.

The researchers hope to have a definitive date within the next few weeks.

Seeds, bark and plant remains

He says no bones have been found at the site, but there are plenty of seeds, bark and other plant remains.

Analysis will now begin on the artefacts and plant remains and it is hoped residues of fat, blood and wood fibres on the stones may reveal what the tools were used for.

Draper believes the Djadjiling site may change archaeologists' ideas about how the hunter-gatherer people of that region lived.

In particular, he says, the stone tools "might be a bit more sophisticated and varied than Australian archaeologists might suspect".

The site is also revealing interesting data on climate changes, Draper says, with a marked change in use of the site about 18,000 years ago, a time that coincided with the peak of the last global ice age.

Traditions handed down

Martidja Banyjima spokesperson Slim Parker says his people are not surprised by the find.

"There have been accounts of this in our traditions handed down by our elders and generations before," he says.

"[But] there's a real sense of relief in that we've been vindicated in knowing it's our country. It's proven what we've always said, that this is of real cultural significance for us."

Preserved

Parker says the site should be preserved and wants national heritage and archaeological groups to support the campaign.

"This is a very, very significant site, not only to us, but to all Indigenous people," he says. "And from a scientific perspective it is significant for all Australians."

The archaeologists were alerted to the possible site by international mining giant Rio Tinto, which manages the joint-venture project with Hancock Prospecting, and funded the excavation work.

Draper says the site, which is about 10 metres by 15 metres, is about 3 metres from the edge of a proposed mine pit.

But he says a tentative agreement has been reached between the Martidja people and Rio Tinto to move the mine pit about 20 metres away from the site and to provide alternative access to the site.

Draper says his research team has another 12 sites it wants to investigate in the area.

"What are the chances in this part of the world there would be only one shelter?" he says.